75 (Type 162) 1985 - 1992

Back in early 2005, I had sold my previous black 75 V6 and regretted it since, vowing if I saw another good one for sale I would buy it. Someone must have read my thoughts as I found myself bidding on a low mileage 3.0 Cloverleaf on eBay, willing to pay over the odds, which wasn't alot back then, to make sure I won it, which I subsequently did!

I made contact with the seller, who turned out to be the son of the previous owner, a retired car dealer who had collected various cars over the years. This 75 had originally been supplied by Charles Ivey of East Sheen, the pre-delivery inspection carried out at Ferry Road workshop in Barnes, part of a dealership I would end up working for myself in future years.

I made the journey up to Twickenham to collect the car and was not disappointed when I saw it. The condition reflected the low mileage, only 26k recorded, despite being 14 years old at that time, I was more than pleased. Until I got on the open road that is, whereby the lack of use started to become evident. A tell tale 'thump' when accelerating and decelerating highlighted perished gearbox mounts, a vibration through the prop shaft where the first clues that this 75 was in need of some recommissioning.

So it was soon booked in with Wayne Ellett for a full check over, new rubbery bits, a Veloce body kit, including an IMSA front bumper, stainless steel exhaust and a set of revolution wheels to complete the look. These were eventually changed for set of 17 inch AZEV split rims and wider tyres, which provided noticeably more grip, but showed up the limits of the original suspension in hard cornering, which would be addressed later on.

I ran the car as my everyday vehicle from this time for around 9 years, enjoying every mile all year round. When people used to ask me 'is it reliable' I would answer 'well, I use it every day'. Until the time came to do the right thing and semi retire the car for fun use only in 2014.

It was at this point I started a process of renovating and upgrading, with the intention of creating a more focused version of the model. It was entrusted back to Wayne to have the suspension stripped, transaxle and prop out, with any underfloor corrosion dealt with and re-undesealed. The rear inner and outer wheel arches required some new metal, a common issue on 75's.

The suspension was re-built with powder coated arms and de Dion axle, poly bushed and complimented with a new set of Bilstein B6 dampers, Eibach rear springs and a thicker HBE front roll bar, combined with a lower ride height to dial out some of the roll and pitch the standard set up is known for.

I had been lusting after a set of SZ wheels for some time, when a phone call came from Wayne to say he had found a set, 4 front wheels (the rear rims are wider on the SZ) and just what I wanted, so a deal was done and I was the proud owner of a set of refurbished Speedlines.

Things were going great until we realised the front tyres wouldn't clear the original arches, so a set of fibreglass Veloce front wings were required, easier said than done, but a set were sourced through Richard Melvin and we were back in business.

Next, the woeful standard brakes got an upgrade, courtesy of a set up comprising of 4 pot Brembo calipers, radial mounts and 330 mm discs on the front, with the addition of a Wilwood brake bias valve and braided hoses to complete the package. The braking performance is transformed and gives a new level of driver confidence when pushing on.

I put this to the test and fulfilled an ambition by booking myself on a trackday at Goodwood circuit in June 2019. Is was a perfect sunny day and I was looking forward to trying out all the upgrades, and I was not disappointed. The car was everything I hoped it would be, poised and balanced through the corners, the front geometry helping it to go where I pointed it, and those brakes, huge power with no hint of fade throughout each session. A fantastic experience I hope to do again.

As with all old Alfa's they are never really finished, I still have a list of things I would like to fix or upgrade, I just need to decide what to do next...